The 65kms along route No.439 from Volterra to Massa Marittima caught me by surprise. I did not give much consideration to the map, and found myself grovelling. Not that I wasn't expecting some climbing- the first 8kms descended back to Saline de Volterra, and everywhere is uphill from there. 
The scenery is somewhat unusual- miles of shiny silverpiping snakes through the hills, and sometimes across the roads, feeding steam to the geothermal power station at Larderello. 
The chimneys appear to vent steam from pools of hot water at their base.
25th of April is a public holiday in Italy, in commemoration of Italy's liberation from Fascism in WW2. I was expecting some extra traffic on the roads, but the Italian motoring public seemed to have stayed at home, except for groups of motorcyclists who all thought they were Valentino Rossi, or given their age, perhaps Giacomo Agostini.
I got to Massa Marittima in time for lunch in the town square, before finding my hotel and packing my bike.The next day the people from the hotel dropped me at the bus stop to begin my return to Milan. After the bus trip to Follonica, I caught the train via Genova to Milan , thence to Saronno via the local Ferrovie Nord service.
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